don't let the makeup fool you this guy
ain't clowning around
welcome to watchmojo.com omens for this
list we're looking at some of the most
unnerving and memorably dark Joker
moments from film television and video
games despite his larger-than-life
antics and colorful garb this Batman
rogue is among the most diabolical
villains of any medium and these
terrifying scenes really hammer home why
the Clown Prince of Crime inspires such
fear please note we will not be
including moments from the comics
because they warrant a list of their own
also spoiler alert number 10 send in the
clowns Joker
this scene from the 2019 Joker film
begins with Arthur Fleck acting in
self-defense but it's also the moment in
which the Joker is born his first act of
violence serving as an awakening of
sorts three employees of Wayne
Enterprises who have been harassing a
woman on the subway turn their attention
to Arthur when he has a fit of
uncontrollable laughter one of them
begins to sing send in the clowns in an
intimidating fashion but it's Arthur who
gives them all a real lesson in fear he
guns down two of the three men prompting
the third to flee implacable Arthur
stalks the man down and finishes him off
and as his post murder dance suggests
Fleck feels great about the encounter
[Music]
number nine a visit to Carl Grissom
Batman
Jack is dead my friend
before Joel Schumacher took the
franchise in an overtly campy direction
Tim Burton brought Gotham City to life
on the big screen in a way that was at
once over-the-top and theatrical but
nonetheless dark while Jack Nicholson's
version of the Joker strikes a similar
balance his grand unveiling as the Clown
Prince of Crime decidedly tilts in favor
of scary emerging from the elevator
he's obscured in shadow a sinister
silhouette and though crime boss Carl
Grissom tries to play nice the newly
christened Joker ain't havin it he
switches between quiet malice and sudden
outbursts of anger before revealing his
twisted new look and taking Carl's life
it's a reintroduction to Gotham fit for
a prince number 8 the last laugh Batman
mask of the phantasm held in high esteem
by diehard fans of the Caped Crusader
but largely forgotten by the masses this
1993 film is a continuation of Batman
the Animated Series Joker doesn't serve
as the film's primary antagonist that
honor goes to the mysterious phantasm
but it's ultimately Joker who gets the
last laugh in this harrowing scene with
the world of the future fair exploding
around him and his fate in the hands of
a woman consumed by vengeance Joker lets
out a spine-chilling cackle
[Music]
he's missing a tooth he's bloody and for
once he's poised to become the victim
but at the same moment he is reveling
and having destroyed a life it's the
sort of chaos he lives for number seven
Jerome's confession Gotham
Gotham was a series that divided Batman
fans but for all its shortcomings it
definitely succeeded in crafting a
memorable character out of Jerome
Valeska as proto Joker rather than the
real deal but let's go very well could
have wound up feeling like a pale
imitation but after Cameron Monaghan
elevated the character arguably above
all other villains on the show despite
many memorable moments the scene in
which Jerome first revealed his true
nature remains the most chilling in a
split second he goes from crying over
his mother to maniacally laughing and
confessing to having killed her that's
very funny
don't Shh it's a great performance one
that earns itself a place on our list
proto Joker labeled be damned why did
you kill your mother true oh you know
how mothers are
she just kept pushing number six telling
the story of his scars the dark night
will you look nervous
is it the scars this is technically a
few different moments but while each
twisted story is creepy in its own right
it's really the cumulative effect of
these conflicting narratives that leaves
a lasting impression throughout the film
Heath Ledger's Joker seemingly opens up
to his victims about his past first he
says his father cut him in an act of
drunken violence later he tells Rachel
Dawes that he did it to himself to cheer
up his wife these anecdotes add a skin
crawling personal touch to his acts of
depravity and violence we almost get a
third version but Batman doesn't let him
tell it though we are curious as to what
he would have said in terms of the scare
factor Joker had already achieved the
desired effect number five saying
farewell to his mother Joker tell me my
laughs a second edition speaking of
getting personal there are few crime
scenes more intimate and disturbing than
this one between Arthur Fleck and Jerome
Valeska these alternative takes on the
Joker have a real penchant for matricide
after learning the messy truth about his
mother and his parentage Arthur returns
to the hospital where he quietly unloads
about his misery
it is a tense moment his calm demeanor
foreshadow something dark and terrible
just around the corner deeming his
tragic life to be a comedy he then takes
his mom's pillow and smothers her to
death with it as she struggles he looks
concentrated but not conflicted and the
peace that this horrific act seems to
bring him is absolutely haunting
number four getting even with Randall
Joker the cops have been coming around
the shop talking all the guys said that
those subway murders I didn't do to me
that's because the suspect was a
regular-sized person
Todd Phillips version of Joker isn't the
most socially well-adjusted and Hina's
co-workers have a strained relationship
once Arthur begins his transformation
into the Joker however he becomes more
assertive and so when Randall comes
around asking about the subway murders
Arthur responds by brutally attacking
the man without warning it is a savage
and bloody assault one that leaves
Arthur's clown makeup and walls
splattered with blood
he lets gary go as a thanks for his past
kindness but until gary is safely out of
the apartment the tension is agonizing
and now that he is the Joker Arthur has
fun with it number three
attacking Barbara Gordon Batman The
Killing Joke well I had some really
interesting nightmares
[Music]
Batman The Killing Joke is among the
most influential Joker stories ever told
thankfully for our purposes it also got
a feature-length animated film
adaptation in 2016 in the movie the
Joker has escaped Arkham Asylum and
decides to pay a visit to the home of
Commissioner Gordon as part of his most
recent plot unfortunately its Barbara
also known as Batgirl who answers the
door he promptly shoots her resulting in
her paralysis below the waist being the
sick and twisted monster he is however
he doesn't stop there
Joker's strips Barbara down and
photographs her later using the picture
as part of his strategy to torture her
father until he goes mad both moments
are hard to watch but the assault of
Barbara is especially horrifying is to
cry number 2 interrogating the Batman
imitator The Dark Knight fun fact you
know the videos that Joker sends out of
people he's kidnapped in the Dark Knight
Heath Ledger was given more or less free
rein from Christopher Nolan to direct
them himself and armed with that
knowledge we can't help but think that
legend would have made one heck of a
horror film director with its shaky
camerawork and McCobb setting the
atmosphere and tone are incredibly
uncomfortable when the character starts
manhandling is captive it's enough to
make your stomach churn after using a
sickeningly playful voice for much of
the video Joker breaks out into a savage
roar reminding us that he can also be
deadly serious in short the whole video
is pure nightmare fuel
so you think Batman's made Gotham a
better place so this is just another
reminder that we are not including comic
book moments but honestly I'm surprised
this isn't already a top 20 with how
many iconic and terrifying moments this
characters had on screen so which
version of the Joker have we deemed to
have had the scariest moment let's check
out the honorable mentions and then
we'll find out see I'm not a monster
I'm just
oh my god
what are you doing in here you're in the
wrong apartment
oh wait that's it
what silly me
I forgot the acid you're trying to
resist a change look on your face when
you saw him the big bad Batman scared of
his own reflection
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Murray Franklin Joker
[Music]
[Applause]
honestly outside of explicit horror
movies this might have been one of the
most disturbing scenes of any popular
film released in 2019 the gun shot
itself is sudden graphic and absolutely
stomach-churning
you know that something terrible is
coming along before the shot is fired
and yet that foreknowledge doesn't
nothing to diminish its impact when
Joker finally pulls the trigger have you
seen what it's like out there Mireille
do you ever actually leave the studio
everybody just yells and screams at each
other
nobody's civil anymore in fact this
lengthy build up instead helps to create
an oppressive sense of dread and ever
mounting terror so that by the time
Joker is ready to deliver his punchline
the viewer is already horrified
it's a remarkable moment of gritty and
grounded horror one that burns itself
into your mind and refuses to fade away
good night always remember
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